Are these real Fender Jazz pickups or not?

lupien · #1 09-06-2009, 10:26 AM

Hi,

I removed these Jazz pickups from my 96' MIM Jazz. I was just about to sell them when the buyer was pretty sure they were not Fender pickups because the wiring was not shielded and he has never seen black and yellow wires.

I bough the Jazz used so they might have been swapped out previously but I really doubt it.

Can anybody confirm MIM Jazz pickups do look like this?

Thanks

father of fires · #2 09-06-2009, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lupien

Hi,

I removed these Jazz pickups from my 96' MIM Jazz. I was just about to sell them when the buyer was pretty sure they were not Fender pickups because the wiring was not shielded and he has never seen black and yellow wires.

I bough the Jazz used so they might have been swapped out previously but I really doubt it.

Can anybody confirm MIM Jazz pickups do look like this?

Thanks

My mexi had the same ones (with the yellow wire). They are not the same pick up that are in the USA models. IIRC, The neck pickup is actually the same size as the bridge so it will not even fit in a USA model.

**line6man** · #3 09-06-2009, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lupien

the buyer was pretty sure they were not Fender pickups because the wiring was not shielded

I don't believe I have ever seen Jazz pickups with shielded wires, except for $100 copy basses with super cheap pickups.

Single coil Jazz pickups almost always have two unshielded wires.

**line6man** · #4 09-06-2009, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lupien

I bough the Jazz used so they might have been swapped out previously but I really doubt it.

I doubt that anyone would swap out the stock pickups for those.
No offense, but those pickups are complete pieces of **** with those ceramic magnets.

lupien · #5 09-06-2009, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by line6man

I doubt that anyone would swap out the stock pickups for those.
No offense, but those pickups are complete pieces of **** with those ceramic magnets.

But aren't those the stock pickups?

**line6man** · #6 09-06-2009, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lupien

But aren't those the stock pickups?

The picture you posted sure looks like stock MiM pickups to me, though I cant confirm.

As father of fires was saying, the pickups on MiM instruments are both the same size. Traditional Jazz bass pickups have the bridge pickup a quarter inch wider than the neck pickup because of the taper from bridge to nut.
If the pickups are the same size, I'd be willing to bet that they are probably stock.

And as I said, who would be swapping out the pickups for ceramics?

**line6man** · #7 09-06-2009, 12:38 PM

FWIW, I've seen plenty of Fender's with yellow and black wires identical to kind used on yours.
Typically the neck/middle pickups have black and white and the bridge has black and yellow.

The fact that your's are both black and yellow tells me they are probably both bridge sized.

SwamiRob · #8 09-06-2009, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by line6man

who would be swapping out the pickups for ceramics?

Haven't ceramic pickups got any sort of vintage merit to them at all then? Or are they one of those things that even most the vintage enthusiasts are happy to see the back of?

**line6man** · #9 09-06-2009, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwamiRob

Haven't ceramic pickups got any sort of vintage merit to them at all then? Or are they one of those things that even most the vintage enthusiasts are happy to see the back of?

Vintage Jazz pickups are traditionally AlNiCo IIRC.
Ceramic magnets are typically used on budget basses, as it's cheaper to manufacture them.

SwamiRob · #10 09-06-2009, 01:01 PM

Ah fair enough, I was under the impression that ceramic was the main material for pickups at some point.

lupien · #11 09-06-2009, 01:21 PM

Thanks for the reply.

Just to get this straight, are stock MIM pickups always ceramic magnet pickups? Which are basically crap from what I read above? Sorry if this is a stupid question, I don't know much about pickups..

**line6man** · #12 09-06-2009, 01:51 PM

I don't want to rub off as being a pretentious pickup purist or something, ha!
I was just saying that if someone had swapped out the stock pickups, I doubt they would want to mess around with those ceramics, unless maybe they were cheating you when you bought it.

Ceramic pickups aren't all crap. They have their uses.
They are quite common in high output guitar pickup designs, like DiMarzios.

For vintagy pickups like P's and J's, I have only ever seen ceramics used on very cheap instruments to keep costs low.

Most Jazz pickups pickups use AlNiCo magnets, where each pole piece is it's own magnet.
A ceramic design uses metal slugs for pole pieces, with a magnet bar glued on the back to give them their magnetism.
It's much cheaper to do it that way when cost is a factor.

I'm really not all that knowledgeable on pickup designs though, so maybe someone else can elaborate on the tonal differences.

lupien · #13 09-06-2009, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by line6man

A ceramic design uses metal slugs for pole pieces, with a magnet bar glued on the back to give them their magnetism.

Ah ok. So I guess its safe to say mine are not Ceramic magnet pickups (no magnet bar) and are most likely the stock AlNiCo Magnets pickups.

I`m just making sure because I don't want to screw anybody over saying i`m selling them my MIM stock pickups when they are actually not.. You know, I would like it done to me so i surely don't want to do it to others.

Thanks again

**line6man** · #14 09-06-2009, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lupien

Ah ok. So I guess its safe to say mine are not Ceramic magnet pickups (no magnet bar) and are most likely the stock AlNiCo Magnets pickups.

No, your's are ceramic.
You see the two bar magnets to either side of the pole pieces.

An AlNiCo pickup does not have any magnets, the pole pieces themselves are the magnets.

I can't find a picture of the back of a regular AlNiCo Jazz pickup right now, so here is a picture of one of my own:
Note that there is no bar magnet, just the pole pieces.

**line6man** · #15 09-06-2009, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lupien

I`m just making sure because I don't want to screw anybody over saying i`m selling them my MIM stock pickups when they are actually not.. You know, I would like it done to me so i surely don't want to do it to others.

Like I said, I'm pretty sure you have stock MiM pickups, though I can't confirm.

MiM's use ceramic pickups.

lupien · #16 09-06-2009, 03:21 PM

Ok thanks. I get it now. I thought those 2 strips on the pickups were just little pieces of foam but I just check and they are indeed magnet strips.